Suk was Dvorák's favourite pupil, and in the best tradition of
such relationships he married his daughter Otilie on the November 1898 day
that Dvorák celebrated his silver wedding. The marriage lasted only
until Otilie's death in 1905, a year after her father's. Suk commemorated
them both in the mighty design and lofty ambitions of his Asrael
Symphony. A young son remained to Suk, and it was for him that he wrote
the five Op 28 piano pieces, About Mother. The keyboard idiom has
changed and deepened, reflecting Suk's sombre state of mind after his wife
died. This musical tribute to Otilie strikes a fine balance between grief
for his loss and hope in the growing boy; it was both a reminder for the
child of the mother he had scarcely known and an inspiration enshrined in
the warmth of her character. The most telling movement is the third, 'Comme
maman chantait, la nuit, à son enfant malade'. The sickness of the
child is portrayed in the constant repetition of the note B flat during
much of the piece. It is a weary ostinato, becoming almost unbearably insistent
as it drags its relentless way through the exhausted mind of mother and
child [listen -- track 9, 0:00-0:55]. This piece is
evidence enough that Suk was ready to explore in music experiences that
were both new to him and fundamentally disturbing.

Risto Lauriala gives a fine account of the music, entering into its varied
moods with ready sympathy and responding to Suk's increasing depth of understanding
with an equivalent commitment. Oddly enough it is in the simpler music that
Lauriala seems sometimes to be trying too hard, as if he cannot quite trust
the music to tell its simple tale unvarnished. Rhythmic distortion in the
cause of expressiveness creates some moments of unease and imposes an alien
sophistication on what is essentially unproblematic. Such blemishes apart,
the performances are deft and convincing.